About...
Apolitical is a global network and learning platform for public servants, used by nearly a quarter of a million public servants and policymakers in 160 countries. The tool enables users to find and share best practices and upskill with short online courses on 21st century government priorities. Established in 2015, Apolitical is a high-growth start-up quickly becoming an essential tool for public servants worldwide.
per employee
not weeks
Apolitical
Background check experience
Apolitical struggled with a cumbersome background-checking provider, facing manual processes, lengthy delays, and poor user experience, leading to widespread dissatisfaction for all involved. To comply with new regulatory standards, they were required to conduct background checks in line with BPSS standards on all staff members, partners, and event speakers, resulting in the need to complete over 200 checks. The People Team spent hours on the phone with their background-checking provider trying to get support on each check and faced huge hurdles at every stage when verifying an individual's credentials.
When requesting information from people or asking for a reference, they were asked to complete checks using a clunky, horrible system that felt like even more of a burden. This was a common theme with 50% of the people who went through their background checking process complaining about the provider used. After hearing so much feedback, and experiencing the poor user experience first-hand, they knew they needed to find a better solution.
The Apolitical team required a streamlined platform capable of swiftly conducting BPSS checks for event speakers, particularly for events planned on short notice. When staff or speakers have changed roles frequently or moved countries they need to be able to verify employment and education globally without waiting weeks to get any information.
Driven by the ongoing frustrations for candidates and the team, Lauren Benson-Armer, People Lead at Apolitical, researched other background-checking providers. Apolitical found Zinc appealing because it, like them, was a tech-first company rather than just a compliance platform. They wanted a tech-forward process that reflected well on their business and wasn't burdensome. Zinc stood out because their support, even during the trial, was far better than what they had before.
Results
The difference in time savings between the end-to-end processes is significant, by several orders of magnitude. To quantify the impact, Zinc has taken 2-3 months of time off the background checking process for Apolitical, equivalent to more than 500 business hours worth of employee time. Checks that previously took weeks of back and forth with providers now take mere seconds since switching to Zinc.
Zinc alleviates the stress associated with completing the range of checks required within the BPSS Standard. Sharing personal information can be nerve-racking or uncomfortable, but the speed at which Zinc operates removes any additional stress for candidates, keeping them in the loop at every stage of the background-checking process. The product itself enables the Apolitical team to move quickly, automatically notifying both the team and the candidate of any issues during checks and when there are no notifications, they know everything is running smoothly. Zinc’s pre-made check packages streamline the process for different role types, allowing the team to simply hit go and send the relevant checks directly to the individual.
Transitioning from non-stop complaints and negative feedback to receiving no feedback illustrates the impact of switching providers and that the process now works as expected. Lauren knows with full confidence that when they background check their staff, the user experience reflects positively on their brand. Just like the results, Lauren's words speak for themselves: "I recommend anyone completing background checks give Zinc a try. We saw the difference first-hand through vastly speedier checks and a better user experience. The results speak for themselves and stand out from other providers we've used."
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